Discussion of public health and health care policy, from a public health perspective. The U.S. spends more on medical services than any other country, but we get less for it. Major reasons include lack of universal access, unequal treatment, and underinvestment in public health and social welfare. We will critically examine the economics, politics and sociology of health and illness in the U.S. and the world.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The Senator from Schering-Plough

Lest you be deluded into thinking that the Senate is debating health care reform based on varying views of what is good for the people, WaPo's Dan Eggen gives you the 4-1-1. (The Post's editorial page is the newsletter of a delusional cult, but Post reporters still occasionally get away with acts of journalism.) Max Baucus is a major beneficiary of big bucks from drug and insurance companies. Sayeth the Egg man:

Baucus, a senator from a sparsely populated and conservative Western state who is serving his sixth term, stands out for the rising tide of health-care contributions to his campaign committee, Friends of Max Baucus, and his political-action committee, Glacier PAC. Baucus collected $3 million from the health and insurance sectors from 2003 to 2008, about 20 percent of the total, data show. Less than 10 percent of the money came from Montana.

Top out-of-state corporate contributors included Schering-Plough, New York Life Insurance, Amgen, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield; individual executives such as Richard T. Clark, chief executive and president of drugmaker Merck, have also made regular donations. Most of these companies, particularly major insurers, strongly oppose a public insurance option, which is favored by President Obama and top House Democrats but has not received support from Baucus's committee.

Just keep this in mind. When the blue dogs screw you, it's not because they lack "nerve" or have an irrational commitment to "bipartisanship" or are afraid of Sean Hannity. It's because they know which side their bread is buttered on, they know what makes the world go 'round, they feel the love that is the root of all evil. That's it, that's how our political system works. Could not be simpler.